Ishaan Khatter: I wanted to work with the likes of Majid Majidi, never imagined it'd come true

Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan, the actress who has done Malayalam films in the past, still feel surprised about how the opportunity to make their Hindi film debut with Majidi's film 'Beyond The Clouds' came their way. The actors share about their experience in Delhi during the promotion of their movie.

| TNN | Updated: Apr 19, 2018, 17:05 IST

Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan during the promotion of their film in Delhi (BCCL/ Samik Sen)

Not many actors are lucky to make their debut with an 'unconventional' movie that they have always wanted to do, that too, with an award-winning filmmaker like Majid Majidi, whose film 'Children Of Heaven' was nominated for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar in 1998. Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan, the actress who has done Malayalam films in the past, still feel surprised about how the opportunity to make their Hindi film debut with Majidi's film 'Beyond The Clouds' came their way.

Ishaan Khatter (right) with director Majid Majidi

Ishaan, who was recently in Delhi with Malavika and Majid Majidi for the promotions of 'Beyond The Clouds', recounted how he landed the film. "I still remember, I was in a grocery store when I got a call from the casting director of the movie and he told me about the movie and that the director is Majid Majidi and I was quite awestruck. I was told to shoot at a few locations in Mumbai as there would be scenes of that nature in the film, that was my audition. So I shot over 50 minutes of footage, which was supposed to be edited, but Majidi sir watched the entire footage and said that I was locked for the role. That's how it happened. It was quite an interesting moment in my life. Two years ago, I told my mother that I wanted to work with the likes of Majid Majidi, and even in my wildest imaginations I’d never thought that this would happen to be my first film," he narrated.

Ishaan Khatter

Ishaan met the director after he had watched the footage of his work and he was asked to lose a lot of weight. "That wasn't easy as he wanted me to look malnourished, I had to lose a lot of weight in very little time, so that part of the preparation was tough, otherwise the role was very well defined on paper. Majidi sir spoke to me about everything under the sun while shooting. One thing he told me was that while many things will come your way when you become an actor, it's important to retain your values and be a good person. I think all his films reflect the person that he is, they are deeply humane," said Ishaan.

Malavika Mohanan

Having acted in a few Malayalam films, Malavika was hoping to make her Bollywood debut soon, but didn't imagine that she would get a chance to work with Majidi. "I never thought that Majidi sir would come to India and I will get to be a part of his film. I have been an admirer of his works from a very young age. It was quite surreal and took a while to sink in that I am going to work with him. But it was not an easy role to play. Mumbai is home to me and I know the city well, that understanding of the city really helped in playing the character. Playing my part was also emotionally draining," said Malavika.

Majid Majidi, director, 'Beyond The Clouds'

Majidi, who always wanted to set one of his films in India, came to know about both the actors when he came to India, and says that the fact that both Ishaan and Malavika come from film backgrounds has contributed to their understanding of cinema. "Both come from cinema families and I didn’t know that Ishaan's brother (Shahid Kapoor) is a known actor. I think both of them are going to shine not just in Indian cinema, but in global cinema," said Majidi.

I wanted to work with the likes of Majid Majidi, never imagined it'd come true: Ishaan Khatter

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